James Bond Star Casts Doubt on Their Return, Thinks Franchise Will Get a Complete Reboot

Ben Whishaw doesn't think he will be asked back as Q -- but he would come if he was asked.

By Russ Burlingame

Ben Whishaw, who played the role of Q in three James Bond movies, says he doesn't expect he will return now that Daniel Craig is finished the the role. Speaking with the BBC, Whishaw said that he felt like the franchise could use a fresh infusion of new blood, but that he would "of course" accept the role if it was offered. Q (short for Quartermaster) has appeared in 22 of the 25 Eon Productions James Bond films, and has been played by Peter Burton, Desmond Llewelyn, John Cleese, and Whishaw. The character is generally the one who provides James Bond with his wonderful toys.

While continuity is loose around the Bond franchise generally, and between Bond actors in particular, there have been members of the supporting cast who recur, and even sometimes actors. Dame Judi Dench appeared in eight Bond movies between 1995 and 2015, always playing M, and during that time she palled around with both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

"I don't think I'm going to be in the next one," Whishaw told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg show yesterday. "I think they're going to start all over again, and with a new cast, a completely new cast. I think that's my hunch, but I don't know. I have no idea."

"I think it might need a new lease of life and a whole new group of people," he added. "But if they asked me, I would do it, of course."

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Earlier this year, rumors emerged that Avengers: Age of Ultron star Aaron Taylor Johnson was the current favorite to step into the role of Bond for the next batch of movies. Bond is the biggest franchise at MGM, now owned by Amazon, although for years now, the studio had been working with Sony to distribute many of its biggest titles, including the Daniel Craig James Bond franchise.

When asked by Vanity Fair about the rumors, the actor replied, "It's flattering. You can have something really positive [written about you], but you can also have something really negative that can circulate. You just want to stay in your lane, stay grounded, stay around the people that you love and love you back, and stay in that world. Because the moment you start believing the sh-t people say about you, you've lost your f---ing mind. You've lost it."

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